Spectacle case and like container



Nov. 22, 1966 J. A. HUEBER ETAL 3,286,750

SPECTACLE CASE AND LIKE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 21, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS.

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1956 J. A. HUEBER ETAL 3,286,750

SPECTACLE CASE AND LIKE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 21. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III -6- United States Patent 3,286,750 SPECTACLE CASE AND LIKE CONTAINER Joseph A. Hueber and Edward K. Hueber, Penn Valley, Pa., assignors to Kelley & Hueber, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,343 7 Claims. (Cl. 150-29) This invention relates to a spectacle case or like container, In a spectacle case or similar container, the size of the article or articles to be contained therein is large relative to the size of the case.

One object of the present invention is to provide a latched spectacle case or like container which is readily opened by finger pressure and which has no fabric gussets, such as are found in conventional cases.

A more specific object is to provide a spectacle case formed by a pair of rigid inverted U-shaped frame members and a web of flexible bag material, in which (a) each frame member comprises a rigid cross bar to the opposite ends of which lever arms are attached in depending position, (b) the web of flexible bag material is attached at each end to the rigid bars of the frame members and is looped about the lever arms; and (c) the lever arms completely, or substantially completely, close the ends of the loop formed by the bag material when the frame members are in closed position.

Another object is to provide a latched spectacle case of the above type in which the case is opened by pressing on the lever arms, as by the thumb and forefinger of each hand.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be clearly understood from a con sideration of the following detailed description of a preferred form selected for illustration in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a spectacle case embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the case in closed condition;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the case in closed condition;

FIG. 4 is an end view illustrating how the case is initially opened by pressing inward against the end lever arms;

FIG. 5 is a perspective end view of the case opened to an extent sufiicient for its purpose;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the case in open condition; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the frame in open position.

Referring first to FIGURE 7, this figure shows the frame of the case. The frame consists of two similar members 10 and 11, each of inverted U-shape, each formed of rigid material, preferably metal, such as steel, or aluminum, or brass, or other suitable material. Frame member 10 consists of an elongated upper bar 12, preferably a channel member, having secured thereto at each end, as by welding or soldering, the lever arms 14 and 16 suspended in depending positions. Frame member 11 is similar and consists of upper bar or channel member 13 having secured thereto at each end the lever arms and 17. Lever arm 14 is attached to the extreme end of bar 12 but lever arm 15 is attached inward of the extreme end of bar 13 to allow the lever arms 14 and 15 to occupy adjacent planes perpendicular to the bars, and to allow space on bar 13 for receiving the notched upper end portion of lever arm 14. In similar manner, and for similar reasons, lever arm 17 is secured to the extreme end of bar 13 but lever arm 16 is secured to bar 12 inward from the extreme end.

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The adjacent lever arms 14 and 15 are pivotally interconnected at their lower ends, as by a stud or rivet 18. In similar fashion, adjacent lever arms 16 and 17 are pivotally interconnected at their lower ends, as by stud or rivet 19.

The lever arms 14, 15, 16 and 17 are similarly shaped, being generally kidney shaped, but tapered and notched at the upper end. What may be considered the outer vertical edge, see FIG. 3, is convex arcuate. These outer convex edges are identified in the drawing by the sufiix x. namely, 14x, 15x, 16x and 17x. The other or inner vertical edge of each lever arm is concave arcuate, except at the lower portion. The concave edge portions are identified in the drawing by the suffix v, namely, 14v, 15v, 16v and 17v.

When the spectacle case is closed, as in FIG. 3, the upper as well as the lower portions of the adjacent lever arms occupy overlapping positions. Each lever arm has a notch cut in its upper end on the convex edge side. These notches are identified in the drawings by the suflix n, namely, 1411, 1511, 16n and 1711. When the bars 12 and 13 are pressed together into adjacent parallel relationship, the notch 14n receives that portion of bar 13 which extends beyond lever arm 15, and notch 17n receives that portion of bar 12 which extends beyond lever arm 16. The'other notches 15n and 1621 receive those portions of bars 12 and 13, respectively, which are just inward of lever arms 14 and 17.

The spectacle case is preferably provided with a catch, and in the drawing the catch is illustrated as a stud 21 secured as by welding or soldering to the under surface of bar 13 and having on the inward end thereof a ball detent 22. When the bars 12 and 13 are pressed together, as when the spectacle case is being closed, the ball 22 is cammed downward under the lower edge of bar 12 and into a recess 23 provided in the under surface of bar 12.

Referring now to FIGS. l-6, the bag portion of the spectacle case or other container consists of a sheet or web 30 of material having a width substantially equal to or slightly wider than the length of bars 12, 13. The material may preferably be a textile fabric, but may be a sheet of plastic or leather, or composition, or other suitable ma- The sheet may be provided with a suitable lining and the edge portions may be suitably bound. The opposite ends of the sheet 30 are fastened to the bars 12 and 13 by any suitable means. In the illustrated preferred form, the bars 12 and 13 are channel members and the bound ends of the sheet are tucked into the grooves of the channel members and secured by clamping the channel flanges together, as seen in FIGS. 35.

The sheet or web 30 is looped about the lever arms 14-17 as seen in FIG. 5, and is of such length that when the case is in closed condition, as in FIG. 3, the lever arms fully close the loop formed by the web 30. Thus, there is no need for the usual end gussets found in conventional prior art cases, and such gussets are omitted from the spectacle case of the present application.

To unlatch and open the case, the lever arms are pressed together at each end of the case, as by the thumb and forefinger positioned as shown in FIG. 3. The lever arms, of which arms 14 and 15 are seen in FIG. 3, then move in opposite directions, pivoting about the pivot stud or rivet until the concave edge portions, 14v and 15v in FIG. 3, come into engagement with the thumb and forefinger. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. The case is now partially open, as seen in FIG. 4. The thumb and forefinger are then removed from the lever arms, and the case is then further opened to the position shown in FIG. 5 by pushing in opposite directions on the channel members 12 and 13.

In FIGURE 5, the case is opened to an extent sufiicient for the normal purposes of removing the spectacles from the case or depositing the spectacles therein. If desired, the case may be opened considerably wider than shown in FIG. 5, but there would ordinarily be no reason for doing While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described in some detail, it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A spectacle case and the like comprising a rigid frame movable between open and closed positions, said frame comprising a pair of inverted U-members each having an upper rigid bar disposed in parallel relation to the bar of the other U-mernber, each bar having a lever arm depending from each end portion thereof, the adjacent lever arms at each end lying in adjacent planes generally normal to the plane of the bars; pivot means pivotally interconnecting the adjacent arms at their lower end portions; and a flexible bag material having its opposite ends secured only to the upper rigid bars and looped freely about the depending lever arms; the outer vertical edge of each lever arm being convex arcuate and the two adjacent arms at each end forming substantially complete end closures for the otherwise generally open-ended oval loop formed by the bag material when the case is in closed condition; the inner edge of each lever arm above the pivot means being concave arcuate for allowing the adjacent arms at each end to be pressed in opposing direo tions until the inner concave edge of each lever arm comes into engagement with the loop of flexible bag material, thereby to spread apart the upper rigid bars.

2. A spectacle case as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that each of said lever arms is generally kidney shaped but has a tapered upper portion, and in that both the upper and lower portions of adjacent lever arms occupy overlapping positions when the frame is in closed position.

3. A spectacle case as claimed in claim 2 further characterized in that said tapered upper portion is provided with a notch for receiving the upper bar of the other U-member.

4. A spectacle case as claimed in claim 3 further characterized in that said upper rigid bars are channel members and that the opposite ends of the flexible bag material are secured to the channel members by being clamped between the flanges thereof.

5. A spectacle case or similar personal container comprising a pair of rigid inverted U-shaped frame members pivotally interconnected to be movable toward and away from each other, each of said frame members comprising an elongated bar disposed in parallel relation to the bar of the other frame member and a lever arm secured to the end portion of each bar and suspended therefrom in depending position; a stud extending through the lower end portion of each of the lever arms for pivotally interconnecting adjacent lever arms for pivotal movement in adjacent planes generally perpendicular to the plane of the bars, each of said lever arms being generally kidney shaped with one vertical edge convex and the other vertical edge concave in the region above said pivot stud, the upper portion of said lever arms being tapered and notched to provide a recess for receiving the bar of the other frame member; a web of flexible material having a width at least equal to the length of said bars secured to and extending from one bar to the other and looping about and embracing said lever arms but unattached thereto, said web having such length that when said frame members are moved to closed position with said bars adjacent each other, the adjacent lever arms at each end substantially completely close the open-ended loop formed by said web, whereby said lever arms function as the sole end closure members for said spectacle case, the concave edge portions of said lever arms allowing the lever arms to be pressed toward each other in opposing directions to move the bars apart, thereby to open said spectacle case.

6. A spectacle case or similar personal container as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that said bars are channel members, and that opposite ends of said Web are clamped between the flanges of said channel members.

7. A spectacle case or similar personal container as claimed in claim 6 further characterized in that catch means are provided for latching said case in closed position, said catch means comprising a stud secured to the under surface of one of said bars, said stud having a ball head adapted to be cammed under the other bar into latching position. I

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 394,861 12/1888 Kadow. 439,086 10/1890 Albright -29 X 793,109 6/1905 Turner et al. 1,533,189 4/1925 Hiering 29287 X 1,784,748 12/ 1930 Quigan. 2,818,099 12/1957 Cudd l5028 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

THERON E. CONDON, Examiner.

I. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SPECTACLE CASE AND THE LIKE COMPRISING A RIGID FRAME MOVABLE BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS, SAID FRAME COMPRISING A PAIR OF INVERTED U-MEMBERS EACH HAVING AN UPPER RIGID BAR DISPOSED IN PARALLEL RELATION TO THE BAR OF THE OTHER U-MEMBER, EACH BAR HAVING A LEVER ARM DEPENDING FROM EACH END PORTION THEREOF, THE ADJACENT LEVER ARMS AT EACH END LYING IN ADJACENT PLANES GENERALLY NORMAL TO THE PLANE OF THE BARS; PIVOT MEANS PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTING THE ADJACENT ARMS AT THEIR LOWER END PORTIONS; AND A FLEXIBLE BAG MATERIAL HAVING ITS OPPOSITE ENDS SECURED ONLY TO THE UPPER RIGID BARS AND LOOPED FREELY ABOUT THE DEPENDING LEVER ARMS; THE OUTER VERTICAL EDGE OF EACH LEVER ARM BEING CONVEX ARCUATE AND THE TWO ADJACENT ARMS AT EACH END FORMING SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE END CLOSURES FOR THE OTHERWISE GENERALLY OPEN-ENDED OVAL LOOP FORMED BY THE BAG MATERIAL WHEN THE CASE IS IN CLOSED CONDITION; THE INNER EDGE OF EACH LEVER ARM ABOVE THE PIVOT MEANS BEING CONCAVE ARCUATE FOR ALLOWING THE ADJACENT ARMS AT EACH END TO BE PRESSED IN OPPOSING DIRECTIONS UNTIL THE INNER CONCAVE EDGE OF EACH LEVER ARM COMES INTO ENGAGMENT WITH THE LOOP OF FLEXIBLE BAG MATERIAL, THEREBY TO SPREAD APART THE UPPER RIGID BARS. 